UNDIVIDED OPINION

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, May 2, 1999

John W. Thompson, the new CEO of Cupertino-based Symantec Corp., a software company, is hitting his conference table with the flat of his hand, his voice rising.

"I will not. I will NOT. I WILL NOT!"

The point the Thompson is trying to hammer home is that he refuses to become, in his words, "the poster boy for African Americans in Silicon Valley."

Considering these sentiments, the announcement of Thompson's appointment to run the Valley's seventh largest software maker couldn't have come at a worse time.

Two days before Symantec announced Thompson's appointment, the Rev. Jesse Jackson had barnstormed through Silicon Valley, announcing that his Rainbow / Push civil rights organization was going to concentrate and publicizing the Valley's "digital divide" - what Jackson sees as the exclusion of minorities from the revved up high-tech economy.

Thompson, who had spend the last 28 years climbing through IBM's executive ranks, soon found his voice mail filled with requests from reporters asking for his take on the Rev. Jackson's initiatives.

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Those requests continue, nearly two weeks after Jackson has left, clearly bothering this MIT management grad.

"Jesse Jackson's presence in the Valley had not a thing to do with my appointment," Thompson said. "It had nothing to do with the color of my skin."

It's a sentiment echoed by Carl Carman, a Symantec director based in Boulder, Colo. "We hired him because of his strong background in software sales and marketing, and for his incredible leadership abilities. Not because of his ethnic background."

And considering Thompson's take on the alleged

"divide," Jackson may want to reconsider enlisting his help.

"This is an industry that's fueled on the intellectual capital of the people it can hire," said Thompson, 50.

"Considering that, I can't imagine this industry being exclusionary in any way. That's, well, that's just idiotic."

Thompson, who 28 years ago stood out as a "different cat" in the early blue-suited sales army at IBM ( "I had a large mustache and even larger afro" ) believes that the lack of minorities in Silicon Valley industries stems from the small number of minorities graduating with math and science degrees.

"That's the fundamental reason that needs to be investigated," said Thompson. "I don't think it has something to do with industry leadership supposedly biased against African Americans or Hispanics."

Thompson, who says he grew up an Army brat, said he'll be focusing on pushing Symantec into the future. He hinted during an interview that his strategy includes a consolidation of Symantec's software publishing efforts, currently spread out over a number of best-selling software titles, including the famed Norton Utilities and anti-virus software. But some brands, such as its pcCommute, have been weak performers, and anti-virus software publisher Network Associates has been spending heavily to promote itself as an alternative to Symantec's products.

"If we sit where we are, we'll be a tombstone," Thompson said. "The expectations of me, with a supportive board, is to now take the company somewhere different."

Thompson said he may concentrate some of those future efforts on embedded computer chips and handheld PCs, a growing market segment ignored by the company.

"You'll find out over the next few weeks and months what our plans are," said Thompson. "We're going to pick some things to concentrate on, areas that I want us to dominate."

The new CEO inherits a fairly healthy company, in financial terms. Last Thursday, Symantec reported earnings of 44 cents per share for its fourth quarter ending April 2. The report exceeded analyst expectations. The company earned $25 million (before one-time charges) on $175.6 million in sales for the fourth quarter. In its third quarter, Symantec earned $24 million on $156.1 million in sales.

As for the company's stock, it closed Friday at $19.88, down 19 cents. The price has shown steady growth since Thompson's appointment April 14, rebounding from the stock's 52-week low of $12.94 on April 13. The stock topped out for the year on Jan. 22, closing at $22.75.

Thompson's announced strategies are already drawing praise from analysts.

"Symantec has a great brand name and some key products," said Alex Cutler, a New York analyst who's followed Symantec for a number of years. "Now one of the challenges they face is to tie it all together in a comprehensive message.

"That's what Thompson's heritage was at IBM, and Symantec is very lucky to have him on board at this point in time."

Thompson, whose wife Sandi just finished her first year of law school, said he'll be immersing himself in Symantec's campaign and while the couple hunts for a suitable apartment.

"I hear that may be a bit of a challenge," he laughed.

But his smiled disappeared when he was asked what he'll do if the reporters begin calling anew about the "digital divide." After all, Jackson is returning to the Silicon Valley in late May.